On 3 February, an armed group attacked Woro village in Kwara state, north-central Nigeria, killing more than 160 people, according to the Red Cross, and abducting many others. The attack was particularly gruesome – some victims were bound and executed, others burnt alive – making it one of the deadliest incidents in Nigeria in recent years. Former Kwara state governor Bukola Saraki aptly described it as a “national disaster”.

Woro, with predominantly Muslim residents, is located just south of Kainji National Park, a 5,341 sq km forest reserve next to Niger state (which is distinct from the country of the same name). In recent years, the reserve has become a base for diverse armed groups, from criminal gangs (locally termed “bandits”) to elements of several extremist groups including a major Boko Haram faction; the Mahmuda, Ansaru and Lakurawa groups; and the Sahel-based Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, or JNIM – which recently announced it was operating in the area.

No group has claimed responsibility for the Woro attack. Residents said jihadists based in the Kainji reserve have long been preaching in the area, urging locals to reject the constitution, spurn democracy and instead submit to Islamic law, but as yet it is unclear which group carried out the attack, as government officials and analysts have variously attributed it to Boko Haram, Mahmuda and Lakurawa.

It is also not certain what triggered the attack. Survivors said jihadists, in a letter dated 8 January, had demanded that the villagers embrace their ideology and were infuriated when community leaders declined. Some analysts suggest the attack may be intended to cow the area’s population into submission. State officials said the attack may have been a reprisal directed at the villagers for collaborating with government forces, which recently conducted operations against armed groups in parts of the state.

The attack reflects the growing strength of jihadist groups around Kainji National Park. It also underscores the deteriorating security situation in Kwara state since 2024. From 1 January to 7 November 2025, at least 207 people (including state and non-state actors) were killed and more than 177 abducted, mostly in the state’s northern areas, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Kwara has become a new battleground in Nigeria’s north-central zone, joining Benue, Niger and Plateau states – all of which have seen long-running violence. As Kwara state forms a geographic bridge between Nigeria’s northern and south-western zones, this surge in violence increases the risk of insecurity spreading south.

The Woro attack has once again placed President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the Nigerian military under domestic and international scrutiny. Tinubu declared a “nationwide security emergency” in November 2025, pledging that he would marshal extraordinary efforts to meet the challenge. This massacre suggests those efforts have been insufficient – especially considering that the Woro residents gave early warning that they were under threat and that the assault upon them continued for hours unchallenged. Tinubu can expect tough questions about the military’s strategy, particularly the persistent deficit in troop deployments for protecting vulnerable rural communities.